Sweets From Strangers | The Deep Oneshot

Sweets From Strangers

When you write a oneshot in one day cuz you're in lockdown and you've lost your mind...

Sweets From Strangers

"What do I have to do to make you—oh, for the love of Sedna..."

Dolos threw something small at Ant. He caught it on a reflex. It was a wrapped lolly. "The only time children ever shut up is when their mouths are full," he explained. "You should try it sometime, William."

"I don't take sweets from strangers," he declared, surprised with himself.

Dolos puffed himself up like a blowfish with no spines. "Me? A stranger? William, this is unacceptable! I was your only friend in college and..."

Ant tuned out to the lecture. And Dolos called him the Child?

Dolos ended up making made such a fuss that Ant finally popped the sweet in his mouth.

"Are you happy now?" he mumbled through the surprisingly not disgusting sweet.

"No!" Dolos flounced to a chair. He sat in it with his nose to the air and his back to the Nektons. Hydra crawled into his lap and he petted her, ignoring the rest of the cabin. The parents decided they wouldn't get anything out of him, so Dad shooed them all out.

As soon as they were at the speedboat, Mum smacked the back of his head. "Why is that thing still in your mouth?" she hissed furiously.

"It tastes nice," he protested. And it did. It tasted awesome. He waited for someone else to say something. Treats like this always tasted the best in the middle and Ant wanted to reach the middle.

That was odd, though. What he'd said to Dolos was true. He didn't just take things from strangers. Except for letters from old men in rowboats. And advice from them. And distress calls from pretty much everyone in the world.

Fine. He took stuff from strangers. But then he got to know them so they weren't strangers! And besides, he'd never taken a sweet from a stranger. He hadn't been offered one. Until today.

"What harm can it do?" Dad asked.

Mum scowled and ushered him into the boat. "A lot more than you'd think. What is my number one rule regarding this market?"

Fontaine raised her hand. "If you see a pink custard—"

"NO! The other number one rule. We are not discussing the custards!"

"Trust nobody," Fontaine amended hastily.

"And..."

"Dolos is a lot less trustworthy than Nobody."

"Correct! So, Antaeus, why is that sweet not in a garbage can?"

Ant took a quick look around. "There aren't any?" he suggested before he could check himself. Well, he was in trouble now. Mum seemed really mad.

But before anyone could say anything else, a bottle flew through the air and shattered on the wall behind Ant's head. Everyone jumped into the boat. As much as Mum would probably like bashing up a party of drunks, it was time to go.

"Don't be complacent. That thing goes in a bin as soon as we get home," she warned, revving the engine.

Ant nodded. That was totally fine with him. He liked this favour, whatever it was. Besides, he'd get to the middle by the time they got home, so it wasn't such a hard loss...

‹oOo›

"Come out here this instant, you little witch!"

Dolos looked up from the game of chess he was playing. How Hydra kept winning he couldn't fathom. He was sure queens couldn't jump over pieces like knights. Maybe he should find the instructions...